Flydubai plans to commence flights from its hub in the United Arab Emirates to Podgorica this November. According to the "Aviatica" portal, the hybrid carrier will replace its seasonal flights between Dubai and Tivat, which were launched on June 23, with the Montenegrin capital until next summer. The Emirati airline has seen strong loads on its Tivat service, which has been extended by a month. Initially, flights were to end on September 26 but will now operate until the end of the summer season, with the final service scheduled for October 27. Ticket sales for Flydubai's new Podgorica flights are expected to begin next week. It will mark the first time the Montenegrin capital has boasted a scheduled route to the Gulf.
Flydubai has catered mainly for Middle Eastern holidaymakers on its Tivat flights. Porto Montenegro, a luxury yacht marina and adjacent waterfront development owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, located close to Tivat Airport, served as the final destination for the majority of travellers on the route. Flydubai's Commercial Senior Vice President, Jeyhun Efendi, recently told EX-YU Aviation News, "The former Yugoslavia is an important market for Flydubai. We have been flying there since 2011 when we began our flights to Belgrade. In 2012 we launched flights to Skopje and in December 2014 we began flights to Sarajevo. Demand for these routes remains strong as passengers are able to travel to Dubai and beyond through our efficient aviation hub, offering links to 264 points around the world. The routes have also provided those from the Middle East, Gulf and beyond our network with easier access to discover this part of the world".
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| Flydubai business class cabin |
Flydubai has further announced it will boost operations to other points in the former Yugoslavia this coming winter season. The carrier will introduce an additional weekly flight to the Macedonian capital each Saturday starting November 4 for a total of three weekly services. Furthermore, it will add an extra three weekly flights to its Belgrade operations for a total of seven per week, starting November 25. The airline will continue to maintain four weekly services to Sarajevo, as was the case last winter. Furthermore, Emirates will be extending its reach into the former Yugoslavia by codeshareing on Flydubai's operations from Dubai to Belgrade, Sarajevo and Skopje. The Middle East's largest airline has already added its designator code and flight numbers on services to the Serbian capital (EK2220/2221), with others to follow, as the two launch an “extensive partnership” agreement.
Wow kudos for Podgorica.
ReplyDeleteBad news for Etihad/Air Serbia/Montenegro Airlines alliance.
ReplyDeleteNot really, this will affect Turkish Airlines the most.
DeleteAir Serbia is suspending Abu Dhabi so they are irrelevant in this situation.
The EK group is really guning for EY airlines pretty much everywhere, not just in our region.
DeleteThey smell the blood in the water.
I was talking about Etihad. Etihad codeshares on Montenegro's flights to BEG and Montenegro on Etihad's to Abu Dhabi.
Delete@9.13 in the end they will probably all merge.
DeleteAnon 09.15
DeleteAre you seriously implying that EY can compete with TK or EK while offering two stop connections vs one on the other two?
Just because there is a code-share agreement doesn't mean there are people using it.
At this point it's obvious that EY is falling apart after years of mismanagement. It will take years and millions of Euros to fix the mess.
Well you sure seem to know a lot
DeleteDo we know how many flights per week?
ReplyDeleteProbably 2.
Delete2-3 max.
DeleteExtending TIV until the end of summer is a very good sign. Could we maybe see both Podgorica and Tivat served next summer season?
ReplyDeleteI am still surprised they are ignoring DBV. I guess demand from Asia is not big enough for more than one airline (TK being the other one).
DeleteNo big surprise here. Probably an agreement between EK and OU.
DeleteMiddle East carriers are really fighting for ex-Yu market. Qatar, Fly Dubai, Etihad, Emirates. Quite amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe Arabs have discovered the Balkans
DeleteWaiting for Oman Air now :D
DeleteDoes Royal Jordanian fly to ex-yu?
DeleteNo. It used to fly to Belgrade during yugo times.
DeleteAh yes, the most beautiful livery was quite a sight at BEG on their L1011s and A310s
DeleteThey are fighting for all markets around not only ex-Yu.
DeleteNice addition for TGD.
ReplyDeleteJust shows how much demand Črna Gora has. Bravo TGD & TIV
ReplyDeleteSo Tivat and Podgorica got flights to Dubai before Ljubljana. I don't understand what the people at LJU airport are doing.
ReplyDeleteLJU is more than well served by EK and QR in ZAG. The market is tiny and best served in this way.
DeleteWith EK in Zagreb, I think Ljubljana's best chance now would be to try and attract Air Arabia.
DeleteAir Arabia failed in PRN so I highly doubt they'll make it in LJU especially when EK has a widebody and a world class product just an hour away.
DeleteAbout one third of Slovenes use also VCE airport.
DeleteThey will come. Qatar maybe. Don't worry, relax. ��
DeleteDo you have any info on that?
DeleteI'm still baffled that they haven't considered Dubrovnik or Split. But good for Podgorica :)
ReplyDeleteEK has a deal with OU via ZAG so these two markets are covered.
DeleteMaybe not enough demand for nonstop flights.
DeleteGreat news for Podgorica
ReplyDeleteWill be interesting to see whether MGX/EY will reduce fares on their codeshare flights TGD-BEG-AUH.
ReplyDeleteI really think people are putting too much of a focus on that codeshare flight. Much more interesting will be if TK reduce prices. Then again they are not too expensive anyway.
Delete+1
Deletewow
ReplyDeleteOT
ReplyDeleteYesterday BEG welcomed its 4 millionth passengers, three and a half weeks earlier than last year. :)
BEG is kicking ass this year.
Bravo Beograd ! Bravo Srbija ! :)
DeleteCould we expect double digit growth in September?
DeleteSeems like September has always been a strong month for BEG, anyone know why? It's usually when demand starts to fall everywhere.
DeleteLast year they had 519.376 passengers and 6% growth. With 10% this year we could hit 571.000 passengers!
Becauae most of the diaspora goes back home during that month. JU500 (diaspora in US) and EY72 (diaspora in Australia) are packed all of this month.
DeleteYeah but we saw that many other airlines are still performing well and it's like the end of the month.
DeleteTIV flight times did not offer great transfer options because they were squarely aimed at local tourists. Let's see if it will be any different for Podgorica.
ReplyDeleteI think they will.
DeleteI knew it! When they started flying to Tivat I wrote that I expect they will transfer to Podgorica during the winter and here we are. Great development in my oppinion
ReplyDeleteWhat a massive year for Podgorica with so many new airlines launching flights.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Just compare TGD to five yrs ago.
DeleteAnd also already 3 new routes scheduled for next year.
DeleteAegean also increasing frequencies.
DeleteThe only thing is all the new arrivals at Podgorica are only seasonal.
DeleteSame can be said for SPU and DBV but everyone seems to aviod that part.
DeleteNow they can also attract passengers from Albania too.
ReplyDeleteFantastic news for Podgorica. Would not have expected Fly Dubai to come but more than glad that they are.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know what the loads are like DXB-TIV?
ReplyDeleteExtending the flights by a month would indicate that they are doing very well. Anyone know if they extended those two other seasonal lines they launched to Georgia and Azerbeijan I think at the same time?
DeletePodgorica will get to a million passengers for sure this year.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it will manage to hit a million this year but very close. 950,000 is realistic.
DeleteBe sure. At this point, under the assumption that there will be no growth in the next 4 months, the year ends 997807 pax
DeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteWill TGD be given up for concession with TIV?
ReplyDeleteOver the past few years, VINCI Airports and Limak Group(PRN and SAW operator) have shown interest in developing TIV only.But now,who knows.
DeleteOT
ReplyDeleteThree days ago Adria started operating Darwin's Atrs on its own flights. I think it was a long overdue move. It's been flying to PRN, VIE and SJJ.
No. One of the CRJs is out of service and they are using an ATR as a temporary replacement. They did it a month ago as well.
DeleteIt's been four days now, can't they fix it a bit faster?
DeleteExtremely smart move by FlyDubai.
ReplyDeleteWill Emirates have code on this flight, does anybody know?
ReplyDeleteYes
Delete